How can Buddhist parents best teach their own children Buddhism? Since they will seldom have the opportunity to teach it to other children, let alone the children of non-Buddhist parents. As I do not wish to theories, I shall speak only from practical experience with my own children, and so of Western children in general.
We live in entirely different conditions and so cannot take such an important problem as Buddhist education too lightly. Our Great Teacher, the Buddha himself, has taught us to see for ourselves, to examine and draw our own conclusions, and not to believe blindly in others. Just as everyone must work out his own salvation so must we evolve a Buddhist educational system suitable for Western conditions. Naturally any advice or suggestions which other countries can give will be thankfully accepted. We hope to receive many such proposals and to hear of other people’s experiences.
Children always enjoy festivals, and since non-Buddhist children have so many, Buddhist children may be allowed their Uposatha-day once or twice every month. This day should be made quite different from an ordinary day, different even from an ordinary Sunday. As it is not always possible in Western countries to keep the new or full-moon day itself, parents may choose the Sunday nearest to it and make that day a festival. Workaday life must stop on this Uposatha-day, and everyone should be intent on observing the silas. Parents should teach their children the Dhamma or influence them in that way. Now how can this best be done?
[pdf]http://www.dhammikaweb.com/pdfs/Teach_Buddhism_to_Children.pdf[/pdf]
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